Mild Sunday temps; no signs of an arctic plunge

When you mention January in Minnesota, one of the first things that comes to mind is very cold temperatures.

That won’t be the case this Sunday. Afternoon highs will reach the 30s in western Minnesota, with mainly upper 20s in eastern Minnesota and western Wisconsin. Parts of the Twin Cities metro area could touch 30 degrees. Our average Twin Cities high temp is 24 degrees this time of year.

I should mention that a dense fog advisory continues until noon this Sunday in the section of far southern Minnesota that’s shaded grey on this map:

You can hear updated weather information on the MPR network, and you’ll see updated weather info on the MPR News live weather blog.

Monday snow or mix chances

A mix of snow showers, sleet and patchy light freezing rain is possible in northern and central Minnesota late Sunday night. That chance of a mix expands into the Twin Cities metro area and western Wisconsin Monday morning.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North American Mesoscale (NAM) forecast model shows the potential precipitation pattern Sunday night through Monday morning:

Temperature trends

Twin Cities metro area highs are projected to reach the lower 30s Tuesday through Friday. Above-normal temps may extend through next weekend and into the beginning of the following week; the NWS Climate Prediction Center shows a tendency for above-normal temperatures in Minnesota and Wisconsin from Jan. 8 through Jan. 12:

Coldest time of year?

Our average Twin Cities high temp is lowest, at 23 degrees, from Jan. 6 through Jan 18.  It looks like we’ll have above normal temps in the Twin Cities on most of the next 9 or 10 days, followed by colder weather around mid-January. 

Programming note

You can hear my live weather updates on MPR News at 7:35 a.m., 9:35 a.m. and 4:39 p.m. each Saturday and Sunday.